# 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1940 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 59th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 54th in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the league standings with a record of 78–76.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1940 season: Billy Cox was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 100 | 53 | .654 | — | 55‍–‍21 | 45‍–‍32 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 88 | 65 | .575 | 12 | 41‍–‍37 | 47‍–‍28 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 84 | 69 | .549 | 16 | 41‍–‍36 | 43‍–‍33 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 76 | .506 | 22½ | 40‍–‍34 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 25½ | 40‍–‍37 | 35‍–‍42 |
| New York Giants | 72 | 80 | .474 | 27½ | 33‍–‍43 | 39‍–‍37 |
| Boston Bees | 65 | 87 | .428 | 34½ | 35‍–‍40 | 30‍–‍47 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 50 | 103 | .327 | 50 | 24‍–‍55 | 26‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1940 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 8–14 | 9–12 | 7–15 | 15–6 | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 8–14–1 | 16–5 | 17–5 | 15–7–1 | 9–13–1 |
| Chicago | 14–8 | 12–10 | — | 6–16 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 11–11 | 8–14 |
| Cincinnati | 12–9 | 14–8–1 | 16–6 | — | 15–7 | 15–7 | 16–6 | 12–10–1 |
| New York | 15–7 | 5–16 | 10–12 | 7–15 | — | 12–10 | 12–10 | 11–10 |
| Philadelphia | 6–15 | 5–17 | 10–12 | 7–15 | 10–12 | — | 6–16 | 6–16 |
| Pittsburgh | 13–9 | 7–15–1 | 11–11 | 6–16 | 10–12 | 16–6 | — | 15–7–1 |
| St. Louis | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 10–12–1 | 10–11 | 16–6 | 7–15–1 | — |

### Game log

1940 Game Log: 78–76 (Home: 40–34; Away: 38–42) :
April: 4–6 (Home: 3–3; Away: 1–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 16@ Cardinals6–4Klinger (1–0)DavisLanahan (1)16,6001–0
2April 22Cubs9–5Bowman (1–0)PasseauButcher (1)10,4612–0
3April 23Cubs3–2Brown (1–0)French—4,1383–0
4April 24Cubs4–9LeeButcher (0–1)—3,8093–1
5April 25Cardinals9–10ShounKlinger (1–1)Russell3,3943–2
6April 26Cardinals10–4Brown (2–0)Bowman—3,9124–2
7April 27@ Reds0–3WaltersBowman (1–1)—5,9504–3
8April 28@ Reds2–8ThompsonMacFayden (0–1)—19,3374–4
9April 29@ Reds2–3DerringerButcher (0–2)—1,5494–5
10April 30Phillies2–6MulcahyKlinger (1–2)—2,0154–6 :
May: 5–15 (Home: 3–8; Away: 2–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
11May 5Bees1–5StrincevichBrown (2–1)Coffman10,9924–7
12May 6Bees7–10 (12)SwiftSwigart (0–1)Sullivan2,1424–8
13May 7Bees9–11EarleyLanning (0–1)Swift2,0984–9
14May 8Giants6–10MeltonKlinger (1–3)Schumacher3,5644–10
15May 9Giants6–17HubbellButcher (0–3)—3,4924–11
16May 10@ Cubs8–3Brown (3–1)Lee—3,4485–11
17May 11@ Cubs5–7PageBowman (1–2)—7,2115–12
18May 12@ Cubs5–7OlsenLanahan (0–1)Passeau17,9555–13
19May 14@ Giants7–2Klinger (2–3)Melton—4,3736–13
20May 15@ Giants2–5HubbellBrown (3–2)—4,3246–14
21May 18@ Bees5–15PiechotaButcher (0–4)—4,2646–15
22May 19@ Phillies5–6JohnsonSewell (0–1)—8,9816–16
23May 20@ Phillies7–8HoerstLanahan (0–2)—1,0006–17
24May 22@ Dodgers1–3FitzsimmonsKlinger (2–4)—3,1496–18
25May 25Cubs12–7Bowman (2–2)French—2,8067–18
26May 26Cubs3–2Klinger (3–4)Lee—8,7718–18
27May 27Reds1–2BeggsBrown (3–3)——8–19
28May 27Reds3–7TurnerBauers (0–1)—6,2588–20
29May 28Reds5–2Butcher (1–4)Thompson—1,3599–20
30May 29Reds0–4WaltersBowman (2–3)—2,2599–21 :
June: 15–13 (Home: 7–7; Away: 8–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
31June 2Giants2–1Klinger (4–4)SchumacherMacFayden (1)—10–21
32June 2Giants3–7 (8)MeltonBrown (3–4)Gumbert18,63410–22
33June 3Giants3–4LohrmanButcher (1–5)—1,98710–23
34June 4Bees14–2Bowman (3–3)Callahan—20,31011–23
35June 6Bees7–6Sewell (1–1)Sullivan—1,16512–23
36June 7Phillies10–4Lanning (1–1)Johnson—1,17413–23
37June 8Phillies6–5Heintzelman (1–0)JohnsonBrown (1)3,05514–23
38June 9Phillies1–6MulcahyKlinger (4–5)—14,45014–24
39June 9Phillies11–5 (8)Brown (4–4)Pearson—14,45015–24
40June 10Dodgers7–8FitzsimmonsLanahan (0–3)—2,65915–25
41June 12Dodgers4–5WyattBrown (4–5)—20,17915–26
42June 14@ Giants6–8LohrmanKlinger (4–6)Brown5,95515–27
43June 15@ Giants1–12SchumacherBowman (3–4)—5,94115–28
44June 16@ Giants5–0Butcher (2–5)Hubbell—34,28216–28
45June 16@ Giants5–3Sewell (2–1)GumbertHeintzelman (1)34,28217–28
46June 17@ Bees3–5PosedelLanning (1–2)——17–29
47June 17@ Bees1–5PiechotaBrown (4–6)—5,22417–30
48June 19@ Bees5–1Bowman (4–4)Errickson—1,77118–30
49June 20@ Bees8–7Butcher (3–5)FetteBrown (2)1,44519–30
50June 21@ Dodgers8–10FitzsimmonsKlinger (4–7)Tamulis6,10619–31
51June 22@ Dodgers7–2Sewell (3–1)Carleton—10,85020–31
52June 23@ Dodgers8–5MacFayden (1–1)WyattBrown (3)—21–31
53June 23@ Dodgers4–4 (13)—24,23921–31
54June 25@ Phillies9–7Lanning (2–2)HigbeKlinger (1)1,00022–31
55June 26@ Phillies2–4BlantonBowman (4–5)—12,56522–32
56June 26@ Phillies11–6Sewell (4–1)BeckBrown (4)12,56523–32
57June 28Cardinals2–8McGeeHeintzelman (1–1)—20,49023–33
58June 30Cardinals0–1CooperKlinger (4–8)——23–34
59June 30Cardinals2–0Butcher (4–5)Shoun—25,09624–34 :
July: 18–12 (Home: 7–5; Away: 11–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
60July 1@ Cubs4–3 (10)Brown (5–6)Olsen—4,33525–34
61July 2@ Cubs0–10LeeBowman (4–6)—5,12025–35
62July 3@ Cubs5–7PasseauBauers (0–2)—5,67825–36
63July 4@ Reds1–9WaltersKlinger (4–9)——25–37
64July 4@ Reds1–3ThompsonButcher (4–6)—19,39925–38
65July 5@ Reds4–5BeggsMacFayden (1–2)—5,68225–39
66July 6@ Cardinals15–8Klinger (5–9)RussellLanning (1)—26–39
67July 6@ Cardinals4–3 (10)Brown (6–6)Warneke—3,53727–39
68July 7@ Cardinals7–6Sewell (5–1)ShounLanahan (2)—28–39
69July 7@ Cardinals4–1Heintzelman (2–1)Cooper—7,30329–39
70July 12Phillies3–6MulcahyBowman (4–7)—9,04229–40
71July 13Phillies9–8MacFayden (2–2)JohnsonBowman (1)2,37530–40
72July 14Dodgers6–2Sewell (6–1)Hamlin—33,33631–40
73July 14Dodgers0–2FitzsimmonsHeintzelman (2–2)—33,33631–41
74July 15Dodgers1–10WyattButcher (4–7)——31–42
75July 15Dodgers4–3Klinger (6–9)Pressnell—12,21532–42
76July 16Dodgers5–3Lanning (3–2)Pressnell—2,27133–42
77July 18Giants1–6HubbellHeintzelman (2–3)—25,18833–43
78July 19Giants2–5SchumacherSewell (6–2)Gumbert2,48133–44
79July 20Bees17–6Brown (7–6)Errickson—2,66134–44
80July 21Bees5–3Lanahan (1–3)SalvoBrown (5)—35–44
81July 21Bees16–2 (8)Bowman (5–7)Posedel—11,07136–44
82July 23@ Giants1–9HubbellKlinger (6–10)—12,42836–45
83July 25@ Giants2–1Sewell (7–2)Schumacher—3,26537–45
84July 26@ Bees9–0Heintzelman (3–3)Posedel—1,09338–45
85July 27@ Bees10–4MacFayden (3–2)Sullivan—1,50939–45
86July 28@ Bees5–2Lanahan (2–3)Errickson——40–45
87July 28@ Bees7–3Butcher (5–7)Javery—5,47141–45
88July 29@ Dodgers6–7PressnellBrown (7–7)—3,53741–46
89July 30@ Dodgers8–2Sewell (8–2)Head—19,91042–46 :
August: 20–12 (Home: 15–6; Away: 5–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
90August 1@ Dodgers3–8WyattHeintzelman (3–4)——42–47
91August 1@ Dodgers7–8CaseyLanahan (2–4)—19,39342–48
92August 2@ Phillies5–2 (10)Bowman (6–7)JohnsonKlinger (2)7,52143–48
93August 3@ Phillies8–0Brown (8–7)Higbe—1,00044–48
94August 4@ Phillies6–1Sewell (9–2)Mulcahy——45–48
95August 4@ Phillies6–4Lanning (4–2)FryeHeintzelman (2)7,18246–48
96August 6Cardinals3–1Heintzelman (4–4)Cooper—8,58247–48
97August 7Cardinals10–9Klinger (7–10)ShounLanning (2)5,64048–48
98August 7Cardinals12–6Butcher (6–7)LanierBowman (2)5,64049–48
99August 9Cubs6–2Sewell (10–2)Raffensberger—29,97850–48
100August 10Cubs0–1OlsenKlinger (7–11)—4,47450–49
101August 11Cubs7–3Lanning (5–2)Raffensberger——51–49
102August 11Cubs5–1Lanahan (3–4)Passeau—28,96852–49
103August 12Reds4–2Butcher (7–7)Walters—42,25453–49
104August 13Reds3–4 (10)BeggsHeintzelman (4–5)—6,81053–50
105August 14@ Cardinals6–7 (11)ShounBrown (8–8)—11,07753–51
106August 16@ Cardinals6–5Lanning (6–2)McGee—4,21854–51
107August 16@ Cardinals5–9WarnekeButcher (7–8)—4,21854–52
108August 17@ Cubs5–6 (13)PasseauMacFayden (3–3)—6,00354–53
109August 18@ Cubs1–9FrenchSewell (10–3)—7,59754–54
110August 19Bees0–3ErricksonBowman (6–8)—1,80354–55
111August 20Bees6–3Lanahan (4–4)Salvo—1,05055–55
112August 21Bees3–2Heintzelman (5–5)Coffman—2,28156–55
113August 22Giants4–5 (12)DeanMacFayden (3–4)——56–56
114August 22Giants4–0Sewell (11–3)Melton—12,52357–56
115August 23Giants13–10Heintzelman (6–5)Hubbell—2,56258–56
116August 24Giants6–7HubbellHeintzelman (6–6)—7,63058–57
117August 25Dodgers4–3Lanahan (5–4)Wyatt—22,25759–57
118August 25Dodgers1–8FitzsimmonsKlinger (7–12)—22,25759–58
119August 28Phillies5–0Sewell (12–3)Mulcahy—4,10060–58
120August 28Phillies5–2Bowman (7–8)Higbe—4,10061–58
121August 29Phillies4–0Brown (9–8)PearsonMacFayden (2)2,23962–58 :
September: 16–18 (Home: 5–5; Away: 11–13)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
122September 1Cardinals10–0Heintzelman (7–6)Shoun——63–58
123September 1Cardinals5–5 (11)—20,94563–58
124September 2Cubs5–2Sewell (13–3)Root——64–58
125September 2Cubs1–7OlsenBowman (7–9)—26,12064–59
126September 4@ Reds2–3 (12)BeggsLanahan (5–5)—30,54364–60
127September 5@ Reds3–6Vander MeerLanning (6–3)—7,66164–61
128September 7@ Cardinals14–9MacFayden (4–4)DoyleBrown (6)2,06565–61
129September 8@ Cardinals16–14Lanahan (6–5)McGeeHeintzelman (3)—66–61
130September 8@ Cardinals5–4 (5)Klinger (8–12)WarnekeButcher (2)10,71867–61
131September 10@ Phillies11–3Bowman (8–9)Mulcahy——68–61
132September 10@ Phillies11–1Sewell (14–3)Frye—1,00069–61
133September 11@ Phillies9–3Brown (10–8)Pearson—2,50070–61
134September 12@ Dodgers0–7CaseyHeintzelman (7–7)——70–62
135September 12@ Dodgers4–7CaseyLanahan (6–6)—10,57070–63
136September 13@ Dodgers2–8HeadKlinger (8–13)—2,76970–64
137September 14@ Dodgers0–5FitzsimmonsLanahan (6–7)——70–65
138September 14@ Dodgers2–4CarletonLanning (6–4)—16,27870–66
139September 15@ Giants10–3Sewell (15–3)Melton——71–66
140September 15@ Giants4–3Bowman (9–9)Gumbert—9,24072–66
141September 16@ Giants7–6Butcher (8–8)LohrmanKlinger (3)1,26273–66
142September 17@ Bees5–10ErricksonLanahan (6–8)Strincevich1,07773–67
143September 18@ Bees1–4TobinBowman (9–10)—2,01373–68
144September 19Cardinals1–2McGeeSewell (15–4)——73–69
145September 19Cardinals2–8HutchinsonHeintzelman (7–8)—5,04873–70
146September 21Reds1–8WaltersButcher (8–9)——73–71
147September 21Reds8–7 (10)MacFayden (5–4)Riddle—6,39574–71
148September 22Reds1–2TurnerSwigart (0–2)——74–72
149September 22Reds8–1Lanning (7–4)Vander Meer—14,86575–72
150September 23Reds12–9Heintzelman (8–8)BeggsBrown (7)2,09876–72
151September 25@ Cubs1–2 (11)LeeSewell (15–5)——76–73
152September 25@ Cubs4–6OlsenBrown (10–9)Raffensberger7,82876–74
153September 26@ Cubs7–6Lanning (8–4)BryantSewell (1)1,78977–74
154September 27@ Reds4–3 (10)Sewell (16–5)Moore—3,17378–74
155September 28@ Reds5–6TurnerDietz (0–1)Moore6,60378–75
156September 29@ Reds3–11WaltersRambert (0–1)Vander Meer13,86078–76 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member :

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Spud Davis | 99 | 285 | 93 | .326 | 5 | 39 |
| 1B | Elbie Fletcher | 147 | 510 | 139 | .273 | 16 | 104 |
| 2B | Frankie Gustine | 133 | 524 | 147 | .281 | 1 | 55 |
| SS | Arky Vaughn | 156 | 594 | 178 | .300 | 7 | 95 |
| 3B | Lee Handley | 98 | 302 | 85 | .281 | 1 | 19 |
| OF | Vince DiMaggio | 110 | 356 | 103 | .289 | 19 | 54 |
| OF | Bob Elliott | 148 | 551 | 161 | .292 | 5 | 64 |
| OF | Maurice Van Robays | 145 | 572 | 156 | .273 | 11 | 116 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Debs Garms | 103 | 358 | 127 | .355 | 5 | 57 |
| Paul Waner | 89 | 238 | 69 | .290 | 1 | 32 |
| Al López | 59 | 174 | 45 | .259 | 1 | 24 |
| Lloyd Waner | 72 | 166 | 43 | .259 | 0 | 3 |
| Pep Young | 54 | 136 | 34 | .250 | 2 | 20 |
| Bill Brubaker | 38 | 78 | 15 | .192 | 0 | 7 |
| Joe Schultz Jr. | 16 | 36 | 7 | .194 | 0 | 4 |
| Ed Fernandes | 28 | 33 | 4 | .121 | 0 | 2 |
| Ray Berres | 21 | 32 | 6 | .188 | 0 | 2 |
| Johnny Rizzo | 9 | 28 | 5 | .179 | 0 | 2 |
| Ed Leip | 3 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray Mueller | 4 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank Kalin | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Fern Bell | 6 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Rip Sewell | 33 | 189.2 | 16 | 5 | 2.80 | 60 |
| Joe Bowman | 32 | 187.2 | 9 | 10 | 4.46 | 57 |
| Max Butcher | 35 | 136.1 | 8 | 9 | 6.01 | 40 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Mace Brown | 48 | 173.0 | 10 | 9 | 3.49 | 73 |
| Ken Heintzelman | 39 | 165.0 | 8 | 8 | 4.47 | 71 |
| Bob Klinger | 39 | 142.0 | 8 | 13 | 5.39 | 48 |
| Johnny Lanning | 38 | 115.2 | 8 | 4 | 4.05 | 42 |
| Dick Lanahan | 40 | 108.0 | 6 | 8 | 4.25 | 45 |
| Danny MacFayden | 35 | 91.1 | 5 | 4 | 3.55 | 24 |
| Oad Swigart | 7 | 22.1 | 0 | 2 | 4.43 | 9 |
| Dutch Dietz | 4 | 15.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.87 | 8 |
| Pep Rambert | 3 | 8.1 | 0 | 1 | 7.56 | 0 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Russ Bauers | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7.63 | 11 |
| Ray Harrell | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.10 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Syracuse Chiefs | International League | Dick Porter |
| A | Albany Senators | Eastern League | Specs Toporcer |
| B | Gadsden Pilots | Southeastern League | Billy Bancroft |
| B | Harrisburg Senators | Interstate League | Les Bell |
| C | Gloversville-Johnstown Glovers | Canadian–American League | Steve Yerkes and Buster Blakeney |
| C | Hutchinson Pirates | Western Association | Jimmy Jordan and Buzz Arlitt |
| D | Carthage Pirates | Arkansas–Missouri League | Buzz Arlitt |
| D | Fort Lauderdale Tarpons | Florida East Coast League | Herb Thomas |
| D | McKeesport Little Braves/Oil City Oilers | Pennsylvania State Association | Elmer Klump |
| D | London Pirates | PONY League | Mickey LaLange and Jimmy Jordan |